My Dinner with Rumiko
Even though we knew she’d be coming as long ago as last March, it didn’t seem as though she was really going to be her until that Satuday afternoon in the green room at the San Diego Comic Con. Suddenly, Executive Editor Seiji’s reaction to meeting her for the interview in our April ’93 issue made sense. [1] Suddenly, it was I who was in love.
Rumiko Takahashi is my hero.
Lots of people are famous. Lots of people are talented. But how often are famous, talented people warm and funny and kind and willing to spend the only vacation they’ve had in years and years traveling to a foreign country to meet their fans? Not too often, right?
Rumiko Takahashi did.
It started before we’d even finished setting up the booth at the convention. “Is she really coming?” “Will I be able to ask her a question?” “Can I get an autograph?” And this was from retailers and exhibitors during the two-day show prior to the actual convention.
The two days before Takahashi’s scheduled appearance on August 6 were sheer madness. It seemed as though every other person who came to the Viz booth wanted to know more about the showing of the new Ranma 1/2 movie, or about what Takahashi was planning to say at the screening, or how they could get an autograph. [2]
At the screening itself, Takahashi’s appearance went up against a personal appearance by Jean-Claude Van Damme, in town to plug his upcoming sci-fi/action flick, Timecop. Sure, Van Damme had 1,500 seats in his auditorium, but by the time Takahashi came through that door and stepped up to the podium, all 1,000-plus people in that hall were on their feet and giving her a standing ovation.
It was one of those moments you remember for the rest of your life, you know?
After receiving the Inkpot Award from convention organizers, Takahashi gave a brief personal introduction and then settled in to watch the world English premiere of Nihao My Concubine. [3] The question-and-answer session which followed revealed some fascinating details about her many series, including where she got the idea for Maison Ikkoku. [4]
According to Takahashi, during her college years there was a small, run-down apartment building behind the place where she lived. Watching the many mysterious residents going to and for from the building started her wondering what kind of people would live in such a place. Thus was a domestic comedy born. [5]
A few hours later, Takahashi graciously signed autographs (and even drew sketches) at the Capital City Distribution booth for over two hours. Some fans got in line as early as 3:00 a.m. that morning in order to get advance tickets for the signing, and although there were some disappointed fans, those who were lucky enough to get a signature or sketch were beaming from ear to ear. It’s not every year you get to meet a manga legend.
During dinner that evening at a famous local hangout called Ole Madrid, Takahashi told us that she can no longer make personal appearances in Japan- the demand is just too great. [6] Translations Editor Toshi and I were seated next to her at the table, and we just couldn’t resist asking her some of those otaku questions all her Ranma fans are dying to know. For example, is Ranma a jerk, or what? (“Ranma’s not mean, just lacking in delicacy.”) Will Ukyo end up with Ryoga? Nabiki with Kuno? Shampoo with Mousse? (“In my opinion, the only true couple in Ranma 1/2 is Ranma and Akane.”) And finally, the otaku question of all otaku questions: What would happen if Ranma got pregnant? (“I don’t care to think about that, and you shouldn’t, either.”) [7]
Talk about your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
After the convention was over, Takahashi came up to San Francisco with Shogakukan Executive Editor Katsuya Shirai to visit the Viz office and meet the rest of our staff. [8] Everyone who worked so hard on the arrangements for her visit was invited to have dinner with her that evening, as well as the person who may well be her number one American fan, series rewriter Gerard Jones. [9] Takahashi expressed her gratitude to Gerard for doing such a good job bringing her work to English-speaking fans; Gerard told her about the trouble he sometimes has coming up with equivalents for her infamously difficult-to-translate puns. We all laughed.
Takahashi is back in Japan now, grinding away to produce those 100+ pages a month that we all enjoy so much. Will she ever come back? “I’d love to,” she says. Maybe it won’t be next year, or even the year after that. But she might come back. In the meantime, I’ll be reading and rereading her work, and dreaming of my dinner with Rumiko.
Trish Ledoux
Editor
Footnotes
- [1] Horibuchi, Seiji. "The Manga Wunderkind" Animerica Vol. 1, No. 2. https://www.furinkan.com/ takahashi/takahashi7.html.
- [2] The "new" Ranma 1/2 movie mentioned here is the second film, Battle at Togenkyo! Get Back the Brides!! or as it was long known in the English speaking world Nihao My Concubine. The film debuted in Japan in August 1, 1992, but would "debut" in America on VHS September 14th, 1994, so being shown on August 1st would have been a true debut for the English dub of the film.
- [3] The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual convention, the San Diego Comic-Con. More than one award is given each year.
- [4] For more information on Rumiko Takahashi's San Diego Comic Con visit in 1994 please see the articles: A Talk With Takahashi and Four Funerals and a Wedding?
- [5] Takahashi would detail the inspiration for creating Maison Ikkoku years later in her autobiographical manga 1980.
- [6] Ole Madrid was a San Diego restaurant and bar at 751 Fifth Ave, San Diego, California. It was open from 1990 until March 29, 2008.
- [7] This particular question and answer has been often reposted for decades hereafter without attribution. This article by Trish Ledoux is the original source. For more information on this please see our article here.
- [8] Katsuya Shirai had already done an interview with Animerica magazine the previous year. You can find the link to it here. Shirai is the creator and founding editor-in-chief of Big Comic Spirits.
- [8] Gerard Jones was in charge of the "English adaptation" of nearly all of Rumiko Takahashi's works into English from Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha. By the time of Kyokai no RINNE, Viz had essentially ceased having someone handle "adaptation" in addition to translating as they were moving to a quicker release schedule. Most of Jones' work on Takahashi's English releases is no longer available as Viz has had fresh translations done of all of the projects Jones worked on. Though this has never been commented on by Viz, it is likely due to Gerard Jones being arrested and sent to prison.
Animerica Vol. 2 No. 9
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